Sunderland’s Steve Bruce could ask for cash boost from club owner Ellis Short

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce would like more cash for team-building this summer.

Published:11:00Thursday 05 May 2011

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STEVE Bruce accepts he will have to ask owner Ellis Short for a major cash injection this summer in order to drive his faltering squad forward.

The Black Cats’ boss started 2011 agreeing with chairman Niall Quinn that the club was reaching the stage where it would only be looking for two or three quality signings every transfer window from now on.

Both men believed that squad strength was approaching what would be expected of a top 10 Premier League side and that in future the club would be looking for only a handful of marquee signings each window to take the club to the next stage.

But a winter of discontent with the squad wrecked by injuries and the defection of Darren Bent has led to such a major slump that Bruce recognises the squad is likely to need a major overhaul this summer.